


No Matter the Form

by Silveryfeather



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Acceptance, Comfort, F/M, Humor, Interspecies, Nothlitism, Post-War, Romance, Third Person POV, flash back, slight gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-01 06:40:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12150840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silveryfeather/pseuds/Silveryfeather
Summary: Sometimes those who truly care about you will love you no matter what you are.





	No Matter the Form

<Hallflin?> The taxxon slowly raised themselves from the corpse of an Earth ungulate, staring at the lean form of a truly familiar female andalite. Just across the clearing she stood, staring at them with a look of curiosity with the slightest amount of revulsion that he had long since gotten used to seeing in the gazes of andalites.

<Arbron? Arbron-Lendrill-Aldriin?> The taxxon practically felt themselves practically melting under the female’s smooth, gentle voice. If he wasn’t feeling that sanity straining hunger, he was sure he would’ve swayed as well. That soft, gentle voice of her’s… just as he had remembered.

The light lavender colored female blinks her moonlit yellow primary eyes at him, taking a single step forward. The _nothlit_ snatched up what was left of their prey into their mouth before scuttling back a few more steps.

Despite his instincts _screaming_ at him to devour the rest of his prey, he had enough of a hold on his sanity to at least hold back on that. By the hive he didn’t want to disgust _her_ any further if he can help it!

<Oh dear Arbron! It really is you!> She starts to run forward to her old childhood friend, waves of glee and longing escaping her mind.

<STOP.> Arbron roared, teeth sinking deep into his prey causing blood and intestines to ooze out into his mouth. He didn’t want her to come any closer in fear of trying to eat her as well. The last thing he wanted to do was ever hurt _her._

The female came to a dead standstill, tail raised up slightly in shock. Her stalks were both now focused on him as her light lavender fur began to prick around her shoulders. <I… What?>  
  
Arbron was wary now. Wary of her running towards him again and wary of the Taxxon instincts that were becoming impossible to control. So he decided to finish the rest of his meal, even if it made her disgusted.

In a few slurps and bone crunching bites he swallows the rest of his prey, ignoring as it’s blood runs down the front of his body. He could see the look of horror on his old friend’s face as he rolls around in the grass to remove the rest of the blood off of his scrre.

He felt a tinge of pain at her expression but he understood as well. To see a loved one in a form such as this as well as watch them mercilessly devour another creature, he would be disgusted like her. He wished his friend didn’t have to see him like this.

He really did.

But yet… Why did she start running towards him in the first place? Did she not fear him at all? Arbron knew all too well how frightening the appearance of a taxxon is. He would’ve at least expected her to keep her distance but then again, this was Hallflin he was talking about.

<What are you doing here?> Arbron asked warily once he finishes his ‘bath’. A thin layer of dust now coated his segmented body, giving him a brownish yellow color.

Hallflin paws at the ground a few times before giving him a smile with her main eyes. <After I heard my friend had shown up again, I _had_ to come and see you again. It was incredibly lucky that I managed to join a research team that was being stationed in this area huh?>

When he had last seen his friend, they were still young. Well, almost adults but young by andalite standards. She was older now and her form filled out into an adult female about to enter her prime years. Even her coat was starting to take on a sharper purple hue, signaling that she was a fertile adult female. She was just as lovely as he had last remembered his best friend.

But wait...  
  
Hallflin was learning to become a xeno-sociologist from the last transmission he had received before he had to cut off contact with the homeworld completely. But what was a sociologist doing so far out here where there were hardly any civilizations to be found?

<What could you study out here though?> He asked nervously, his five eyes focused on her face.

<You.> She answers simply, tipping an ear to the side as she does.  
  
<M-m-me?!> He splutters out, shocked rippling through his squishy frame.

<Well… Yes… I got a minor degree in psychology, more specifically one in _nothlithism. > _ She replies quietly, making circles into the dirt with a slender hoof.  
  
Arbron didn’t know if he should feel honored or terrified that his friend had decided to not only go to the trouble of signing up of a scientific expedition to Earth but specifically come all the way out _here to_ **_see him._ **

<But I’m not _that_ interesting right?> He weakly jokes, trying to hide his anxiety that was boiling up to the surface. <All I do is eat now! What’s so interesting about me eating?>

She was silent for a few moments, as if she was considering his question seriously. Though after a minute he was seriously starting to consider that maybe he might’ve actually turned his friend away from studying him. He wasn’t sure if he should’ve felt triumphant or terrible.  
  
<Well… Taxxons are hermaphrodites right? How does it feel to go from being biologically male to being biologically intersex?> She suddenly inquired with a smile all to familiar to him.

Some say you change as you get older but it would seem Hallflin was living proof that that _was not true._ She had always been a female who seemed to have a mind more focused on the hocks than the thoughts.

<OF ALL OF THE THINGS YOU COULD’VE ASKED ME, YOU ASKED ME THAT!?> Arbron roared, feeling waves of embarrassment wash over him. His whole body jiggled as he rises up so that his first set of legs were off the ground. The slim female did take a step back but she certainly didn’t cower in front of him.

<OVER TWENTY YEARS LATER SINCE I’VE LAST SEEN YOU AND ONE OF THE FIRST FEW QUESTIONS YOU ASK ME IS ABOUT WHAT I HAVE TO BREED WITH? HALLFLIN! I THOUGHT YOU WOULD GROW OUT OF THAT!> Arbron was shocked and just a bit furious. How could she be so callous!? Yet, something about how she said it amused him deep down inside. He was sort of happy to see that Hallflin didn’t change completely.

Hallflin covers her ears with her hands as she stares up at Arbron, a small tender smile curling at her eyes. Despite his posturing and hissing at her, she still manages to smile at him. He was almost instantly silenced at this, surprised.

<Is it not right for me to want to know since I do happen to love you after all…> She told him quietly, the exposed skin on her nose turning a bright shade of blue. She begins to swirl her hoof into the dirt once again, now avoiding hisgaze. <I didn’t just come to study you Arbron… I-I…>

He dropped down heavily, unable to take his eyes off of her. For once, the gnawing hunger that kept eating at the corners of his mind were no longer noticeable. He could feel his stomach clench slightly as he stands still, watching her silently.  
  
He knew his friend had cared for him but he hadn’t realized how much she had _really_ cared for him.

<I missed you so much.> She sighs, taking a step towards him, closing the gap between them just a bit. <You have no idea…>  
  
<I-I…> Arbron was beyond touched to hear her tell him this. But why now? Why while he was this… disgusting worm? Why not back then when he was about to leave?

Why now?  
  
<Arbron I wanted to tell you for so long. But I could never get the courage to hold my tail high and pronounce my affections towards you. Arbron, now that I know you are truly alive I knew I had to tell you.> She whispers sadly into his mind, taking yet another step towards him.

Arbron did not back away from her this time.

<But how could you say that while looking at a face like mine?> He lowers his two bottom set of claws while raising up his upper ones. He was so confused. How could a perfectly normal andalite such as herself love him?  
  
<Because it wasn’t your body I adored, it was your mind.> She whispers softly, tail sweeping across the ground a few times. Her yellow gaze met his own crimson one and the two gazed at each other silently. He felt something stir within his body that he hadn’t felt in so many years.

Did he love her back though? How many years has it been since he’s seen her?

In fact did he _ever_ love her in the first place?  
  
Arbron struggled with the memories of his past.

* * *

 

 _ <Arbron? Arbron!> Hallflin peered over the edge of the bank, staring down at him with a small, yet worried smile. She was slightly sweaty from their run from the school grounds back to his homelands and her mane hung in her face, wet as well. <You silly, silly male! You’re supposed to _ **_jump_ ** _over the bank not slide into it! > _  
_  
_ _Arbron grumbled quietly, looking at his mud matted fur with a stalk. <I didn’t realize that these light rain storms would make the bank so unstable. Ugh, it’s going to take _ **_hours_ ** just to get all of this mud out! >

 _He glares up at her as she starts laughing, slowly sliding down the muddy hill after him. Arbron stomps his hooves a few times before just turning away and wading into the water. He could hear her stopping just as he starts getting to his waist._  
  
_ <Arbron, what are you doing now?> She groans pulling one of her hooves out of a puddle of mud, looking slightly ill._

 _ <I figured if I just swim across I could get get most of the mud off.> He was now up to his chest and it felt like the bottom dropped sharply. He was right as he jumps off the edge before starting to swim to the other side. _  
_  
<If you start drowning I can not save you.> She sighs after him, ears twitching nervously forward._

_ <I don’t need you to save me, I can handle myself!> Arbron laughs, already halfway to the other side. But just as he finds a foothold again, he hears a loud splash behind himself. He twists a stalk around just in time to see Hallflin swimming towards him. Amused by how bedraggled his friend looked as she swam, he stops to watch. _

_ <Keep smiling at me like that and I’m going to nip you with my tail.> She grumbles, looking like she was being weighed down by her fur. _

_ <I’d like to see you try.> Arbron was already scrambling back up onto the bank, his sea blue pelt shimmering with water. He looks at his friend as he waggles his tail at her playfully. _  
  
_With a snort, she begins climbing hard back up on the bank not allowing her thicker, heavier fur weigh her down. Once she was within pouncing range of Arbron, she puts in a burst of speed and starts running towards him._  
_  
Arbron laughs as he rears back, balancing on his hind legs to allow her to run by. Hallflin stumbles over with a shocked snort before spinning around on one hoof, whipping her tail towards him. Arbron easily blocked her attack still laughing at his friend’s poor attempts at fighting._

 _ <Alright _ **_Prince_ ** _Arbron, perhaps this might work! > Hallflin was running towards him again. Arbron rolled his shoulders before rearing back again. But just as she passes by, she trips herself up and causes herself to purposely fall to the side right into Arbron. _  
_  
Arbron lets out a mental wave of shock as he’s sent tumbling onto his side with Hallflin on top of him. The young female was quick to roll around until she was directly on top of him. Before he could react, he found her tail blade at his throat. Though this didn’t scare him._

 _It made him laugh._  
  
_ <That’s a dirty trick!> He huffs at her as he gently moves her blade away from his throat. Hallflin hopped up off of him with a snort, shaking flecks of mud off of herself. _  
  
_ <Do what you can to win is what my brother told me.> She replies simply, gazing down at him with a stalk. Arbron gets to his hooves as well, lightly bumping his hip against her side. _  
  
_ <More like you don’t have the skills to fight fair. Leave the fighting to me.> He grins at her. _  
  
_Hallflin narrows her stalk eye, huffing indignantly at him. <I suppose you’d want to be my protector like from those old stories about Princes who give their tails in service to ladies?> _  
_  
_ _Arbron could feel himself grow hot under his fur at her implications. <H-Hardly! I was just saying that when we _ **_really_ **_have to fight let me handle it!_ >

 _Hallflin turns her primary eyes onto him, smiling gently yet playfully at him. <Who says I wouldn’t mind?> _  
  
_Arbron gives her a light kick with one of his hooves before running off up the bank. <I’m not some foolish male who just thinks about females! I just want to protect my friend!> _  
  
_Hallflin shakes her stalks at him as she follows the young male. Arbron knew that it was childish play but yet… something about how she said it made her sound wistful. Perhaps, as his hearts starts to beat faster, she liked him in that way._

_But then again it might just be the delusions of an adolescent male._

* * *

 

He knew he felt something even now… some kind of affection towards her. But being trapped in a being that did not experience love easily had hindered his ability to tell. So many years and yet he still felt something for the female before him.

<I-I believe I adore you as well.> He murmurs, multiple legs scuttling forward to close the gap between him.  
  
Once again his instincts kicked up and began screaming at him to tear into her warm flesh. He could _hear_ her blood rushing through her veins with each one of her heart beats. But before he could backpedal away from Hallflin, worried that he might lose control, he felt her hands upon his face.  
  
She begins rubbing his cheeks gently, gazing up into his eyes with a look of nothing but love. The andalite in him reacted to her passionate kiss by sending shudders through his frame. He could feel his cold body grow warm under her soft feathery touch. By the stars, her hands were soft!  
  
He felt the heat in his body intensify until it bursted out into a searing flame that threatened to consume him. Is this what _love_ felt like? Was it truly this hot?  
  
Hallflin leans forward, brushing her cheek against his as she slowly slips her arms around his squishy form. Her nostrils flared for a moment but then she returned to her normal, steady breathing. He would’ve held her as well but he feared scratching her with his claws. Already the hunger was raging deep within his body, readying to tear her apart.

 

<Hallflin?> He was starting to back away now, feeling cold as her arms were ripped away from him.

 

<Arbron, please.> She pathetically whined, starting to walk towards him. But a hiss from him made her stop in her tracks. She looked him over for a moment before sighing heavily.  
  
<Is this how it’s going to be for now on?> She questions him with a small groan of annoyance. He stared at her blankly with all five of his eyes.

<Well I need to feed more often-> He starts before he’s interrupted by a wave of her tail.  
  
<You’ll just have to make it up to me later. I expect you can figure out how to curl up with your _mate_ in that body.> She huffs at him as if she had become angry with him. Arbron shuffles a couple of his feet before standing up tall.  

<Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be able to think of something.> He answers as he already starts backing away, dropping down. Just before he starts to slip into the bushes to go hunt, he hears Hallflin call to him,  
  
<I love you!>  
  
Arbron pauses for a moment, wondering how in the stars this day had gone in such a radical direction. After all, she was an andalite and he was an andalite trapped in the body of a carnivorous worm. How would this ever work out in the end?  
  
But then he decides he should just take it as it is. After all, it would seem that not matter what form he takes she would love him. She _did_ say that she fell in love with his mind, not his body.  
  
<I love you as well, Hallflin.> He whispers back before disappearing into the ferns, going on yet another hunt. 

* * *

 

I got this idea of Arbron leaving a friend home and it turns out they were in love with them so much that they refused to get married. Like after they find out he’s alive, they’re so elated that they tried to get to Earth to see him.

Even if they were a taxxon nothlit.

I’ve always been a sucker for the good guy turns into monster but still is loved kind of romance stories lol  
  
Feed back is always great!

~

Silveryfeather


End file.
